Coco Gauff’s father praises his daughter for standing up for herself.
Gauff got into a lengthy argument with the referee at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday after the referee ruled she was late.
Gauff’s father, Corey, raved about how his daughter handled the situation in an Instagram post.
“I’m really proud of my daughter. She stands up for herself and fights for fairness.” Elder Gauff wrote:.
“You have the strength of your grandmothers, two of the strongest women we know. You are passionate yet respectful and articulate. This is a familiar scene for women and women of color, who beg and fight to be treated fairly and respectfully by men.
“You are a great example to women and your generation of what it means to fight, to stand up for yourself and keep going even though you didn’t get the results you wanted. You were successful. You are becoming the young woman I prayed for, God bless you.”
Coco was grateful for her father’s words.
“[A]lol Thank you, I love you dad! Thank you for being the best father. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without you,” she wrote on Instagram.
Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, was playing Karolina Pliskova in the round of 16 of the tournament when the incident occurred.
Gauff served during point in the second set, but referee Pierre Bacchi called him out.
After Gauff appealed the decision, she expected Pliskova to be awarded a point due to her missed return, but Bacchi ruled to redo the point instead.
“You said it out loud after she hit.” Gauff told the referee:. “Yes, I did.”
“I called you right away,” Bucky countered. “I remember, I called you right away.”
“You didn’t. The call was a late call,” Gauff responded.
“Not for me,” the referee disagreed.
After another back-and-forth, Gauff finally managed to score back and win the match 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
